Green Line in first week hit expected daily average for 2015

Officials were projecting that the Green Line would average 27,500 riders per weekday in 2015. So they were pretty pleased to discover that average daily ridership for the system's first five days hit 27,805, according to figures released Wednesday by Metro Transit.

"We are very encouraged to see initial ridership running at 2015 projections during these early summer days,” said Brian Lamb, Metro Transit General Manager. “We’ll have a clearer sense of everyday use when the University of Minnesota and other schools along the light-rail line resume classes in the fall.”

Transit officials have projected Green LIne ridership to climb to more than 40,000 riders per weekday by 2030.

The busiest stations during the Green Line's inaugural week were: Nicollet Mall, with 9 percent of all riders boarding; East Bank, with 9 percent; Snelling Avenue with 7 percent and Central, with 7 percent.

Ridership numbers do not include the more than 107,000 rides taken during the Green Line's opening weekend, when passengers rode the rails for free.